Uddalok Mukherjee makes a ‘defamatory’ attack on everybody’s favourite journalist, the “world’s most underworked, overexposed reporter”.
“Journalists should not emulate Tintin. He is rarely seen filing copies; he is even casual about deadlines. He is arguably a poodle too; he is a pet of the establishment….
“The Boy Reporter’s acquaintances were a mixed bunch of ‘black guards’, wily capitalists, royalists, racists, sexists and even—blistering barnacles!—there were those with Nazi leanings.
“Tintin belongs to the tradition of fictional superheroes—Superman and James Bond figure in this list—who have been criticised for being apologists of hegemony, be it race, gender, or politics. Their attempts are to preserve the status quo, unlike those of Asterix and the Gauls.”
Also read: ‘Baal ki haal’
IJR 